MHADA housing lottery: Some win, many lose

Mumbai: In Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai, it is a dream come true for many hard-working people who aspired to own a home of their own.

The Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority or MHADA has brought out the list of winners of allottees numbering no less than 4000 lucky residents.

It was an emotional moment for Chandrakant Sandhve who was alloted two flats in the MHADA lottery announced on Tuesday. A slum dweller, Sandhve had applied for the MHADA housing scheme three years ago and is a satisfied man now that the computerised lottery process adopted by the authorities this year.

“I have full faith in the procedure MHADA follows for the lottery. At least this year I am happy with their procedure,” said Chandrakant Sandhve after winning the allotments.

The allotment hall was filled with anxious applicants waiting for the results to be announced. For the first time, MHADA adopted the computerised lottery system tested by TCS to allot around 3800 flats this year, making the system more transparent.

But many other people didn't seem very happy as they complained of discrepancies. Visually impaired Kishor Gohil also demanded that the results be read out.

MHADA also put up the results simultaneously on notice boards outside the hall as people crowded the area hoping to see their names being flashed.

“I have won an allotment in the first attempt and therefore I trust everything is transparent. But of course, had I not won it, I am sure I would not have called the system a fraud,” said Subhash Bijoy, another winner.

But there were people whose names had not featured on the list and therefore doubted the authenticity of the system.

“They should have explained the process to us. This seems like a file has been selected and it shows some numbers and they announce that these are the winners," complained Abraham.

With close to 100 applications for each flat, there were very few who managed to get their dream homes at this lottery. But for those disappointed, MHADA plans to come up with another lottery in a couple of months.